With the impending retirement of the Space Shuttle program, NASA is providing seed money to U.S.-based companies in the hope that they will develop the first commercial launch vehicles and spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts into low-Earth orbit as part of its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2) initiative. NASA Administrator Charles Bowden stated that the program allows for NASA to “take advantage of American ingenuity to get to low-Earth orbit” while allowing resources at NASA to concentrate on deep space exploration. The four companies selected for funding include:

Blue Origin based in Kent, Washington – $22 million

Blue Origin was founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos who is the founder of Amazon.com. The company’s space vehicle is called New Shepard and is engineered to take off and land vertically.

SNC’s space vehicle is the Dream Chaser. The Dream Chaser program received a boost back in December when Virgin Galactic announced that it would support the program. Virgin Galactic was formed to take the tested technology of SpaceShipOne, the first spacecraft developed and funded by a non-government entity, and create a business model around it for space tourism in a new craft called SpaceShipTwo. The aircraft which carries SpaceShipTwo to altitude, WhiteKnightTwo, may also be contracted to assist in the Dream Chaser’s atmospheric flight test program.

SpaceX programs include the Falcon 9 two-stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene. The walls of the tank are made from an aluminum lithium alloy.

The company’s reusable spacecraft is named the Dragon and will be available in cargo and crew member configurations. The spacecraft was designed to replace the Space Shuttle as the primary means for transportation to and from the International Space Station (ISS).

The Boeing Company, Houston, Texas – $92.3 million

It shouldn’t be too surprising that Boeing received the largest amount of funds from NASA since the company was a major subcontractor for Space Shuttle operations. Currently, Boeing is designing the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft which it believes should be available for delivery and flight by 2015.

I will be the first one to admit I wasn’t too excited when President Obama cancelled NASA’s mission to the Moon. The decision I believe exasperated a problem which in fairness pre-dated President Obama’s term. That problem was the fact that NASA should have been working on a replacement to the Space Shuttle years ago. As a result of that failure, the United States for the first time finds itself having to hitch rides to the International Space Station with the Russians. Though we may have beat the Russians to the Moon decades ago, clearly they have won the race for longevity since we will be paying them for the taxi ride to orbit.

With all that said, I like the idea of NASA putting funding in the hands of U.S.-based companies to develop spacecraft for low-Earth orbit. I think the success of SpaceShipOne was a game changer and once Virgin Galactic begins offering regular rides into space aboard SpaceShipTwo our world will never be the same. SpaceShipOne proves that spacecraft can be designed by companies without support by any government organization. The biggest limitation for companies is funding. NASA’s Commercial Crew Development initiative addresses that through putting its millions of dollars directly into the hands of companies which have already had some success with their space vehicle programs.

Hopefully, we won’t have to wait too much longer to see American astronauts on board an American spacecraft once again as it makes its way to the ISS. Until then, let me say it will be more than a little depressing to realize we have to stick out our thumbs to hitch a ride up there.